The Imperative to Improve Retailer POS data
In this industry that trades in controlled beverages there are inefficiencies built into our business by regulators trying to contain the social cost of our products. Some of these regulations are being challenged in the courts and state legislatures, leading to political and legal battles that cause divisions by pitting one tier of the [...]
How can improved UPC standards help retail wine stores?
The quest for a unique wine item number for use throughout the industry has been a recurring theme in this column. So much so that I was invited to sit on a panel at the Wine Industry Technology Symposium to present the retailer perspective in a discussion of what the 3 tiers could do better [...]
Google Shifts Retailers’ Attention to 12 digits
In the early 1980’s Walmart famously introduced barcode scanners in their stores to speed up the checkout process. Back then only 45% of their most successful products carried UPC codes. After successful tests with this new technology Walmart leveraged their market clout to require all their distributors and suppliers to supply UPC codes with their [...]
The Barcode has a Birthday
In early June the UPC code turned 35 years old. This milestone was celebrated in Orlando by attendees at the annual U Connect conference who shared an enormous birthday cake adorned with a bar code. Originally develop to help supermarkets speed up their checkout process; the UPC code has grown to become an international standard [...]
Point of Sale Integration
As we discuss the benefits of launching a website with wine stores, we are often asked to recommend a point-of-sale system POS. Robust integration between a website and the POS is an important element in maintaining an active online presence. To support your business Beverage Media offers five possible points of integration with a POS. [...]
Sharing Information about Wine on an Open Standard
An interesting discussion has begun percolating at the Open Wine Consortium OWC that segues nicely from last month’s column on the heavy lifting that goes into maintaining a wine website. The OWC discussion is about whether it might be possible to conceive of a standard for wine data exchange. The goal would be a widely [...]
Will You Be Pinging Your Inventory Any Time Soon?
There was a vision of the future of wine retailing at this year’s National Retailers Federation NRF convention. A demonstration Wine Cave by IconNicholson presented prototypes of a technology with great potential to improve the operation of liquor stores. In this demo Smart Shelves could identify a bottle on display and presented product information on [...]